Texas horsetrack owners and interests want lawmakers to allow slot machines at their tracks — a move they say would help keep the horse industry alive while boosting government income during tough economic times.One of the Laws of the (Legislative) Universe is that you can't do this sort of thing without an economic study. They've got one (click here to download it) that says their proposal would create 53,000 jobs in Texas, create $6.8 billion in economic activity, and would also pump cash into the state treasury at about the same rate as the state lottery. Recent state history would put the odds on that last claim at one-in-three. Legalizing bingo and parimutuel gambling did nothing for the state budget; creating a state lottery provides a relatively steady and relatively small stream of money into the state's coffers (it's about $1 billion annually, or about five percent of what the sales tax produces). And then there's the issue of House Speaker Joe Straus, whose family owns part of Retama Park between San Antonio and Austin. Straus has said he'll keep his mitts off the gambling issue. He went further in a recent interview on Texas Monthly Talks, saying that having him in the chair is probably more a setback than a boon to his family interests in horses and tracks. The group behind all of this is Texans for Economic Development, which showed up in the last couple of election cycles with a pile of cash and a goal of making the Legislature more friendly to gambling policy. "They had a successful election strategy, and the makeup of the Senate and the House are such that they have the votes this time," said Mike Lavigne, a spokesman for TED. You take that and the economic situation right now, and the fact that the group pushing for it is more unified than it's been in the past." (Here's a look at recent political contributions from the racetrack folks.) They want lawmakers to approve a constitutional amendment that would allow video lottery terminals — better known as slot machines — at existing racetracks. That wouldn't expand the footprint of gambling, and since it wouldn't allow card games or roulette wheels and so on, it wouldn't turn the tracks into full-blown casinos. That "footprint" defense can be found in speeches from Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst over the last few years. A constitutional amendment would skip the governor's office on its way to voters, and give lawmakers the chance to explain their vote as a choice for voters rather than as support for gambling. The same scheme got the lottery through the Legislature in 1991, and nobody lost their next election as a result of that vote. But there is opposition — the antis are led by Texans Against Gambling — and the issue makes lawmakers nervous. They approved the lottery, like bingo and parimutuel gaming before it, in the face of tight budgets and the threat that higher taxes might be the only way for the state to go forward. You can still find political folk who claim that the lottery was the only thing that prevented the state from adopting an income tax in 1991 (they might have also been looking at the polls at the time).

The Texas Racing Commission — funded entirely from fees on the racing interests it regulates — has about three months to find a way to prevent its bottom line from turning red.In the wake of unreliable income from uncashed winning bet tickets, the agency is considering budget cuts, increases in those fees, and appeals to the governor and the Legislature as it seeks ways to remain in the black. The outstanding bets — called OUTs — rise and fall with wagering at tracks. It's the money owed to bettors who never collect. After a year, the tickets are worthless, and the money reverts to the tracks. They can offset certain expenses allowed by the state with OUTs money; the rest goes to the TRC, where it's the largest single source of revenue. When OUTs are down, TRC's income drops. Their latest projections have them running $677,833 short in their budget. They're proposing budget cuts (leaving empty race supervisor, drug-testing positions, and administrative positions unfilled) and a set of fee increases to narrow that budget gap to $255,154. They could go to the Legislature and/or the governor's office to cover that remainder. The financial troubles at the agency come at a time when the tracks say they need new products to be financially viable themselves. They want slot machines allowed at existing racetracks and are lobbying legislators to put that idea up for a popular vote next year. They contend it would save their industry, put money into the economy, and earn the state $1 billion in fees on the new gambling. Racing regulators will meet with track owners and industry groups this week to talk about increasing annual fees by $25,000 for most inactive racetrack licenses. They've proposed fees of up to $50,000 for approved "transfers of pecuniary interests" and of up to $100,000 for approved changes of locations of a licensed track. License fees for a variety occupations — from track announcers to farriers, clergy to veterinarians, tattooers to jockeys — would rise, too, under the proposal. The TRC staff will meet with some of the affected groups this week (Wednesday) and the full commission will take up the fee issues on February 25. Without changes, agency officials think they'll be in red ink sometime in May. The agency is on the Sunset Commission's review list this year; Sunset recommended replacing the OUTs income— which it deems unreliable — with higher fees on licenses. Sunset's report said one track, Lone Star in Grand Prairie, pays the most in OUTs money to the state even though it has fewer racing days than five other tracks.

Stocks are down, unemployment is up and bloggers are tracking people quitting and entering positions that pay substantially better than writing. They're also talking about privileges that go along with a press pass (like seeing the House Speaker's private apartment), a certain freshman senator from Fort Worth, blog-related news and filed legislation. We wrap it up with a medley of miscellany.

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Employment Line

After an intense interrogation by the Senate Finance committee, Robert Rowling resigned from his positions on the boards of University of Texas regents and UT Investment Management Company. Senators weren't happy with seven-figure bonuses doled out in a poor-performing market, and Rowling wasn't happy about his treatment by legislators.

The UTIMCO fiasco is all about politics, BurkaBlog says, noting that former Gov. Rick Perry backer Rowling had recently declared himself a Kay Bailey Hutchison man. Burka also has spin from Hutchison's folks and from Rowling predecessor Charles Miller , who uses the term "sucker punch" to describe the proceedings. More from Miller here.

Come to think of it, quite a few KBH supporters have been losing their governor-appointed jobs recently, says the Dallas Morning News' Trail Blazers. More here. Postcards from the Lege reports that, compared to UTIMCO, two state pension funds offer "rather modest" incentive packages to employees. More from Postcards here. Writing on the topic, Eye on Williamson says new House Speaker Joe Straus has displayed "[Barack] Obama-like coolness and pragmatism."

Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, is calling for the head of Texas Legislative Council chief Milton Rister following revelations that Rister sanctioned the purge of former House Speaker Tom Craddick's computer files, says PoliTex, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's blog. (Capitol Annex has heard rumors of a special grand jury convening in Austin to get to the bottom of the matter.) [eds. note: TLC says, officially, that the records are the property and responsibility of each legislator and that the agency itself has no obligation to examine or preserve them.]

Speaking of heads rolling, Trail Blazers notices Rep. Susan King, R-Abilene, accessorizing with a snake's severed head. After some research, Trail Blazers posts a newspaper article featuring King, a rattlesnake and a machete, that doesn't end well for the snake.

A local Dallas hardware store has offered former Pres. George W. Bush a job as a greeter, says Dallas.org, adding that they'll let Bush become a guest blogger if he wants. (No word on the employment opportunities yet from Pres. Bush, who after all has a Harvard MBA on his resume.)

Despite the proximity of its city hall to the State Capitol and the consequent savings on gasoline, the City of Austin is paying $830,000 for lobbyists this session, the most in the state, says KVUE's Political Junkie. She's posted Austin's legislative menu and the list of 15 lobsters.

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Eat at Joe's

House Speaker Joe Straus let a scrum of reporters tromp through the Speaker's Apartment for a Friday morning breakfast. Being polite, well-mannered guests, they peppered their hosts with questions and videotaped everything. Here's video and links to supporting entries from Trail Blazers. Here's film from Texas Politics, the Houston Chronicle's blog, and some from KUT's notes from the Lege. And follow these links for a video and photos from NewspaperTree.com Blog.

Texas Watchdog posts the paperwork associated with the renovation of the House lounge. Put it all on eBay, suggests Half Empty, who, it appears, like Out There, also did not receive an invitation to breakfast. [eds. note: Cheap shot. Out There's boss went.]

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Hazy Hazing

Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, definitely did not make an indecent proposal to freshman Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, says Texas Observer's Floor Pass after earlier reporting to the contrary. Here's a Burnt Orange post complaining about the erroneous entry, which Floor Pass deleted. And here's a link to the series of posts a Burnt Orange blogger wrote about spending the day with Davis.

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Blog Log

Lone Star Times is passing the virtual hat around for real money to pay for diapers. (Readers had given $411 toward the $500 goal as of Sunday afternoon.)

Texas on the Potomac, the Houston Chronicle's blog, talks about their multimedia goals in their first video blog, starring D.C. bureau chief Rick Dunham. New Potomac members Helen Thomas and David Horsey write about former Pres. Bush and draw about Obama's Cabinet picks, respectively.

Texas Freedom Network released its annual State of the Religious Right in Texas report.

The new Ellis County Observer's news team posted a picture of themselves.

Texican Tattler road tripped to Big Bend State Park (next door to the national park) and snapped some photos. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn made a videotaped message meant for direct consumption by bloggers.

If bloggers had editors, this lede would not exist: "An opportunity to interview Jim Cardle, founder of TexasInsider.org was presented to me and I took it," says Pondering Penguin.

Headline of the Week award was no contest, with Texans for Rick Perry taking it with an entry on how cool their boss is, titled, "Governor Perry: against bailouts before being against bailouts was cool."

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Billfold

PoliTex reports on the very first bills filed by freshmen Reps. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth, and Chris Turner, R-Burleson. Annex spotlights bills related to the franchise tax, removing the Attorney General from redistricting and restraining dogs.

Mike Falick's Blog looks at a bill calling for drug-and-alcohol testing for at least 10 percent of "professional employees of a school district" each year. (That means principals, teachers, nurses, bus drivers, board members and employees who require certification.)

A bill by Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, would allow public schools-sponsored shooting sports, says A Keyboard and a .45. And Bay Area Houston looks at legislation aimed at reforming the Texas Residential Construction Commission.

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Hodge Podge

U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, (or someone who looks and sounds just like him) is making himself available for a one-hour online town hall meeting on Potomac, starting at noon Houston time Tuesday, Feb. 10.

Blue Dot Blues reports that former Highland Village mayor Bill Lawrence is exploring either the Texas gubernatorial or U.S. Senate race in 2010. Lawrence ran in the 2006 GOP Primary in House District 63, finishing fourth in a field of five, with Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, going on to take the gold medal.

Letters from Texas channels a vision of what a Texas Senate session may look like whenever the Lege is broadcast statewide on cable TV. Meanwhile, an expert on the topic writes in to Burnt Orange saying that it's a difficult task, but one that could be done.

Capitol staffers are competing against 13 other states to see who can walk the most. It's one of the fitness initiatives Perry is pushing, and the winners will be posted here on Feb. 20.

Important people from Dallas rendezvoused with other important people from Dallas at the Austin Club and talked political agendas, says Trail Blazers. Meanwhile, Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, got to meet Maria Cristina Chirolla, Columbia's consul general. He also posts on his A Capitol Blog a video following her career fighting drug lords.

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This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel, who hails from Victoria but is semi-settled in Austin. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.

Texas ought to divorce political contributions and contests from its judges, the state Supreme Court's chief justice said in his latest State of the Judiciary address.Justice Wallace Jefferson said he's "concerned by the public's perception that money in judicial races influences outcomes." He said the perception alone — whether based in fact or not — corrodes confidence in the courts. Jefferson said he's working with legislators to change how judges are chosen in an effort to get them off the political money train, and out of party politics. "Sadly, we have now become accustomed to judicial races in which the primary determinants of victory are not the flaws of the incumbent or qualities of the challenger, but political affiliation and money," he said. "... I would like to claim that voters gave me the honor of continued service due to stellar credentials but it may just as well have been tied to McCain's success in Texas." Jefferson said Texas is one of only seven states that still pick judges in partisan elections and said (again) that he'd prefer a merit selection system where judges are appointed and later can be unelected by voters. His comments paralleled complaints from activists who held a press conference before his speech calling for judicial reforms that would separate judges from political money. Texans for Public Justice, Texas Watch, the League of Women Voters and the AFL-CIO joined to call for an end to partisan election of judges. Those groups — like Jefferson — pointed to a pending case before the U.S. Supreme Court in which one side is arguing that a judge should be recused from a case because lawyers on one side of it contributed to the judge's campaign. That case, Caperton v. Massey, will be argued before the federal high court next month. Meanwhile, Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, will again carry legislation to change the way judges are selected. He says it'll only affect appellate courts; state district judges have opposed such efforts in the past. And there's another hurdle in the middle office: A spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry says the Guv wants to leave judge-picking to the voters.

Jim Dunnam, leader of the House Democrats, got a committee assignment that wasn't in the original list from House Speaker Joe Straus, though a mention of it was tacked to the bottom of a press release on the panels.Dunnam will head a "Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding" that will "monitor actions of the federal government, including legislation and regulations, related to efforts to promote economic recovery by providing federal funds to the states" and to develop legislation to "maximize the state's receipt of federal funds." The members of that panel include Dunnam, Crownover (vice chair), Coleman, Darby, Eiland, Kent, Ortiz, Pitts, and Truitt.

Some winners, some losers in House committee assignments.

Joe Straus got his job after a Friday evening meeting at Byron Cook's house on Polo Road in Austin at the beginning of the year. The eleven Republicans there picked him as their sole candidate against Speaker Tom Craddick. The Democrats joined in the next day. Craddick folded that weekend. A short-lived effort to substitute John Smithee of Amarillo as the new speaker was, well, short-lived. And Straus started the next week with the announcement that he was the new sheriff.

In his committee assignments, the Polo Road Gang collected their booty. In the currency of the Texas House, they're rich. All of them chair committees, including the most powerful panels on their end of the building: Appropriations (Jim Pitts, Waxahachie), Calendars (Brian McCall, Plano), State Affairs (Burt Solomons, Carrollton), House Administration (Charlie Geren, Fort Worth), Public Education (Rob Eissler, The Woodlands), Redistricting (Delwin Jones, Lubbock), Licensing & Administrative Procedures (Edmund Kuempel, Seguin), Environmental Regulation (Cook, Corsicana), Energy Resources (Jim Keffer, Eastland), and Public Safety (Tommy Merritt, Longview).

Five of the PRG are on four committees each. Six are on the agenda-setting Calendars panel. Two other Republicans who joined early enough to be on Straus' first list — Dan Branch of Dallas and Todd Smith of Euless — are chairs now, too.

On the other side of the court, the three Democrats who got most of the credit/blame for antagonizing Craddick and engineering his downfall — Jim Dunnam of Waco, Pete Gallego of Alpine, and Garnet Coleman of Houston — got leftovers. Gallego and Coleman are both chairmen and got pretty good assignments: Gallego on State Affairs and General Investigating & Ethics, Coleman on Calendars and Public Health. Dunnam, the leader of that bunch, will chair a special committee on the federal stimulus package and got spots on Transportation and Environmental Regulation. Craddick, by way of comparison, got on the State Affairs and Energy Resources panels.

Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, is the House's new speaker pro tempore, a largely honorary gig, but also will be on Appropriations and Insurance.

A couple of members shared in the spoils even though they weren't in either group. The big surprise on the list is Rep. Brandon Creighton, a sophomore Republican from Conroe whose lottery winnings includes spots on Appropriations, Calendars, General Investigating & Ethics, and Natural Resources. Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, will chair the Public Health panel and also sit on Calendars and Corrections. They must know somebody.

It didn't hurt at all to be a member of the San Antonio delegation, or from any of the counties and towns in the general vicinity of San Antonio. Frank Corte is a chairman. El Paso's delegation — with Democrat Joe Pickett chairing Transportation and Norma Chavez on both Appropriations and Calendars, has more juice than before, even with two freshmen in the group.

And being a freshman didn't necessarily hurt. Doug Miller, R-New Braunfels, made it onto Appropriations, House Administration, and Natural Resources. Angie Chen Button, R-Richardson, also got on Appropriations. Diana Maldonado, D-Round Rock, is on State Affairs. And here's an oddity: Freshman Allen Fletcher, R-Tomball, made it on to Urban Affairs — as a "seniority appointment."

The rural WD-40s (White Democrats over 40) — fared pretty well in Straus' freshman effort. Mark Homer of Paris, Chuck Hopson of Jacksonville, Jim McReynolds of Lufkin, and Allan Ritter of Nederland are all chairmen this time. In order: Culture, Recreation & Tourism; General Investigating & Ethics; Corrections; and Natural Resources.

Finally, two former members are back in the House. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, will chair Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence. It probably didn't hurt that his old deskmate, Clyde Alexander, is now the speaker's chief of staff. Al Edwards, D-Houston, got a spot on Appropriations.

The House rules bar the chairmen of Appropriations and State Affairs from serving on substantive committees — not all of the members on those panels. Other than those two chairs, everybody on the House serves on two substantive committees. Who serves on the procedural committees — Calendars, Administration, etc. — is up to the speaker. A smart reader who called to clarify last week's murk on this subject also pointed out that there's a math problem at the root of it. If you bar those two chairs from being on committees of substance, the numbers work out right; if you don't, they don't.

The new speaker's first bit of danger is out of the way, with House members on their way home for a long weekend to mull their committee assignments and to consider the difference between what they hoped for and what they got.

In early returns, Joe Straus got out of it alive. In a House with a two-vote difference in the strength of the parties, that's probably a win. By his numbers, the chairmanships of the 34 committees are divided 18-16 in favor of the Republicans and 15 of the chairs are in that position for the first time in their legislative careers. There are fewer Republican chairs and more Democrats, more African-Americans (5) and Hispanics (4) than two years ago, and the same number of women (7). The number of urban chairs fell by two, while the number of rural chairs fell by four; that balance is now 23 urban, 11 rural, according to Straus' count.

That popped the cork on the session, on the House side. The budget-writing Appropriations Committee held its first meeting before members were out of town. Bills are already being referred to other panels, and the House will be in full gear next week, a month into the session.

Put former U.S. Ambassador and state Rep. Tom Schieffer on the list of people who might be running for governor of Texas next year. "I've been talking to people and I've been very encouraged," he says.

He's been calling around, visiting people, and drove the perimeter of the state to get a feel for it over the last few weeks. "I'm prepared to do it, if it's doable, and I'm convinced that it needs to be done," he says. "People have been very encouraging... but I need to be convinced that it's something that can be done."

Schieffer was president of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club and one of George W. Bush's partners there. He served as ambassador to Australia and Japan while Bush was president. But he says he's a Democrat and served three terms in the Texas House in the 1970s — part of a huge 77-member freshman class that included Pete Laney, Kay Bailey, her future husband Ray Hutchison, Jim Mattox, and Buddy Temple, among others. Those last three ran for governor and lost; Schieffer and Hutchison, if both run, would be the fourth and fifth gubernatorial candidates from that House class.

If he runs, Schieffer says, he'll run as a Democrat. He's concerned about the state of education in Texas and worries that education here could fall behind other countries like India and China.

Schieffer says he'll make a decision in the next few weeks.

The details of the federal stimulus money aren't out, but the Texas Conservative Coalition is already hitting the brakes, urging the Lege to be careful about the federal dough. Their wish list: Do the 2.5 percent budget cuts requested by state leaders during the current fiscal year; hold the equivalent of five percent of general spending in the Rainy Day Fund; limit "emergency" appropriations; try to use stimulus funds on one-time spending items so the state's not obligated in future years when the feds aren't helping; and put stronger limits on state spending. That group is full of lawmakers, who'll presumably put all that in bill form before the session is over.

State officials are waiting to get their mitts on the actual numbers, conditions, provisos, etc., but they've got some rough figures, and they're big. The House version of the stimulus bill would have sent $19.7 billion in this direction. The Senate number was $14.7 billion. That's for a variety of things, from highways to Medicaid to aid for the homeless, public housing to school construction, education to childcare to health care — you name it. They hope to have good numbers in the next few days.

• Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst put a low bill number on the eminent domain bill, giving his push to a bit of legislation the governor is keen to see. Last session, Rick Perry vetoed an eminent domain bill that had broad approval in the Legislature. This time, he's asked for a constitutional amendment, which requires a two-thirds vote from the Legislature, and which would then go to voters — bypassing Perry's desk and his pen. The sticking point last time had to do with access to the uncondemned part of a property, and compensation for the decreased value of what's left after the government comes in and starts building stuff. Sens. Craig Estes, Glenn Hegar, and Robert Duncan are heading that effort in the Senate.

• Another bit of legislation has more than enough senators to get to the floor — it takes two-thirds, most of the time — but hasn't been referred to a committee yet. It's Sen. Chuy Hinojosa's moratorium on increases in college tuition. He's got more than the required 21 signatures and is waiting to see whether it'll land in education, higher education, or finance.

• Department of Corrections: Jana Burleson was at the Texas Youth Commission, and with Sen. Royce West's office before moving to House Speaker Joe Straus' policy crew. We had her on the Lite Guv's staff, which is incorrect... We misspelled Kurt Meachum and Jerry Philips in the same sentence last week. We'll just quote our high school band director here: "If you're gonna make a mistake, make a big one." Sorry, sorry, sorry.